With men’s hoops action returning to Maples Pavilion for the first time in nearly three weeks, there was hope that Stanford (15-5, 4-3 Pac-12) could use some home-court fortune to snap its two-game losing streak and secure a win over visiting Oregon State (13-8, 3-6 Pac-12). A slow start by the Cardinal, however, got in the way again, and Stanford fell to the Beavers 68-63.
The quick zone defense of Oregon State largely confined the home team to shots from the perimeter in the opening minutes of the game, but Stanford’s shooting from deep was unfortunately reminiscent of its 12.5% success rate against Cal on Sunday. Before finally getting on the board with 15:39 left to go in the first, the Cardinal were 0-for-5 from the field, including 0-for-3 from 3-point range. Stanford managed to sink two triples by the time the buzzer had signaled the break but had launched a total of eight.
Unfortunately for the Cardinal, success was just as elusive within the arc. Of 21 shots, only eight fell for Stanford en route to a weak 22-point first-half performance. The Beavers, however, managed to net 10-of-23 attempts from the field and an additional 8-of-9 from the charity stripe to earn a nine-point lead at the half. The deficit would prove a huge obstacle for the Cardinal.
“We had too many phases where we let up throughout the game,” junior forward Oscar da Silva said of the team’s hot-and-cold play throughout the night. “It happened multiple times … and being behind from the get-go puts you at a disadvantage.”
“It’s hard to come back if you’re not consistent,” he added.
Of Stanford’s 63 total points, da Silva accounted for 22 in his fifth 20-point game of the season. Other double-digit performers were junior Daejon Davis and freshman Tyrell Terry. The pair of guards had 13 and 12 points, respectively.
Having three players with ten or more points was still not enough for the Cardinal to offset big offensive numbers from Oregon State’s Tres Tinkle, Ethan Thompson and Jarod Lucas. Though Stanford managed to hold Tinkle to 15 on the night — slightly less than his 19.5 per game average — Lucas proved to be lethal off the bench. The 6’3” freshman tallied a team-high and career-high 21 points, including eight of the Beavers’ 18 scoring free throws.
Stanford’s next chance to get out of the slump comes Saturday with a game against No. 11 Oregon. Tip-off against the conference’s highest-ranked team is set for 3 p.m. PT at Maples Pavilion.
Contact Savanna Stewart at savnstew ‘at’ stanford.edu.